On October 8, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in three cases: Altitude Express, Enc. v. Zarda (out of New York), Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (out of Georgia), and R.G. and G. R. Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC (out of Michigan).  All three cases involve plaintiffs arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination “because of . . . . sex,” includes protection against discrimination because of…

The beginning of the New Year (and a new plan year for many public agencies) is a good time to review key provisions of the Comprehensive Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”), including what notice requirements COBRA imposes on public agencies. This year, make a resolution to ensure that your public agency fully complies with COBRA by following the guidance in this post. Educate your Human Resources staff about the law to equip them with the…

How many times have you set a New Year’s resolution and a month or two into the New Year said to yourself, “oh well, maybe next year”?  We all too often set personal and professional goals each year, only to give up or put them on the back-burner once we get behind in reaching those goals.  The same can be said of workplace practices.  If you’re an employer in California, each New Year is accompanied…

‘Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the workplace, A few diligent employees were working apace, Others had taken vacation to spend time with St. Nick, While still others were absent having called in sick. Some surely were, for it was cold and flu season! But the Manager wondered if some had another reason. The very next day was a paid holiday, And some planned to travel to far, far away. Some of them…

Residency requirements for public employees is a long-standing concept that has been experiencing a resurgence. In the 1970s, numerous legal challenges were brought against municipalities that required employees to reside in the city or county where they were employed. In 1972, the California Supreme Court found the City of Torrance residency requirement was unconstitutional. In that case, the city ordinance required all employees, including current, to become city residents within six months of the ordinance…

On December 12, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a Final Rule that clarifies and amends federal regulations concerning the regular rate of pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Many of the affected regulations date back more than 60 years, long before the FLSA was made applicable to the public sector.   The effective date of the modified regulations is January 15, 2020.   They were published in the Federal Register today, December…

This may be hard to believe, but in three weeks, we will be living in the year 2020.  I find this fact particularly surprising, as I often refer to events of the mid-90’s as incidents that occurred “a few years ago.” Whether we acknowledge it or not, though, time marches on.  Annually in California, employers in the public and private sector must ready themselves for a new wave of laws that will take effect just…